


Medicine

by Marsalias



Series: Dannymay 2019 [24]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Gen, Oneshot, Poor Danny, crossposted on ffn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:35:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24359686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marsalias/pseuds/Marsalias
Summary: The pills were still in the plastic cup. The water next to them hadn't been drunk. Maddie sighed, and pinched the bridge of her nose. She could feel another headache coming on."Danny," she said. Her son, wrapped in blankets, didn't respond. "Danny," she repeated, more loudly. She rapped on the glass wall of the containment unit.This got a reaction. The pile of blankets on the cot shifted, curled, and uncurled, before Danny finally sat up, shedding blankets. "What?" he asked, eyes briefly flashing green.
Series: Dannymay 2019 [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1757458
Comments: 18
Kudos: 483





	Medicine

The pills were still in the plastic cup. The water next to them hadn't been drunk. Maddie sighed, and pinched the bridge of her nose. She could feel another headache coming on.

"Danny," she said. Her son, wrapped in blankets, didn't respond. "Danny," she repeated, more loudly. She rapped on the glass wall of the containment unit.

This got a reaction. The pile of blankets on the cot shifted, curled, and uncurled, before Danny finally sat up, shedding blankets. "What?" he asked, eyes briefly flashing green.

Maddie swallowed back her revulsion. Danny tended to withdraw even further when she let those feelings show. "You have to take your medicine."

"No." Danny started to tuck himself back into the blankets.

"Danny, you need to take your medicine, or you won't get better."

"I'm not sick," said Danny, voice cold and flat. Ghostly.

"I know it seems that way, sweetheart, but that's the ghost talking, tricking you. It's affecting your judgement."

"The only way I'm taking those is if you come down here and shove them down my throat."

There was the ghostly aggression, so completely unlike the real Danny. Maddie shoved away her hatred for the ghost who had done this to him. Showing it would, like her earlier revulsion, do absolutely no good.

She couldn't believe she had missed this for so long, couldn't believe she had missed all the signs of that ghost, _Phantom,_ exerting its influence, taking over Danny. It was a miracle that Danny had fought it, and the unnatural fear of Jack and Maddie it engendered, off long enough to tell her and Jack, even if he seemed incapable of acknowledging that the ghost was _other,_ alien to himself. That's how deeply the ghost had wormed it's way into Danny's psyche.

With some effort, she and Jack had managed to trick Danny- no, the ghost- into the containment unit, and they had been trying to remove the ghost ever since. They had initially tried the Fenton Ghost Catcher, but that had... mixed results. Dangerous results. They had come up with an alternative that _should_ work, should purify him, should release him from the ghost, should safely purge the ectoplasm from his body.

But only if he took the medicine she had made.

"Danny, please."

"No."

Maddie bit her lip. "Danny, you're forcing me to do this."

"Oh, yeah, how horrible. I'm making you do something you don't want." He turned over so he was lying on his stomach. "Do your worst."

"Danny-"

"I'm not crazy, and I'm not being controlled. You just won't believe me because you don't want to admit that you're wrong."

"Danny, please. Just take the medicine."

Danny didn't deign to respond.

"You're not leaving me a choice here."

Maddie clenched her jaw and hit the button beside the door. There was a hiss as a sedative gas was released into the containment chamber. Maddie hated doing this, but she didn't have a choice. She counted to ten, letting the gas cycle out of the chamber, before she opened the door. She picked up the cup of pills, and alked over to where Danny lying, immobile, on the bed.

She started unwrapping the blankets. She suspected he had wrapped himself up out of spite more than anything else, to give her more work. She shook her head. His frustration was understandable, and she knew his behavior wasn't his fault, but she wished he would be more cooperative. This was difficult for all of them.

She uncovered his face, and propped his head up on her knee. That's when he moved. Faster than should be possible for a human being, he was up and over her, and out of the containment unit. He slammed the door behind him.

"Danny!" shouted Maddie. She ran to the glass, slamming her hands on it.

Danny glanced back, but continued to the portal control panel.

"Danny, don't do this!"

Danny kept hitting buttons. The portal doors slid open.

"Please! We're just trying to help you!"

Danny turned back on the portal threshold. Maddie didn't miss how the mists of the portal seemed to reach out and stroke him.

"I love you," he said. "Goodbye."

He stepped back.


End file.
